In less than six weeks, Deniliquin residents Johanna and Dave Murphy will welcome their first child into the world.
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But what is meant to be a happy time is instead filled with angst, as their baby must be delivered in Melbourne because Johanna is classified as having a high risk pregnancy.
And the rules also mean Dave may now be excluded from being present at the birth.
The couple travelled to Epworth Freemasons in Melbourne last Friday to see their obstetrician for a check up and are now in isolation.
New border rules introduced since then has created more uncertainty.
‘‘With the rules relating to the virus, Dave can’t come to appointments with me any more, and potentially to the birth; I am devastated,’’ Mrs Murphy said.
‘‘It’s the biggest thing in your life to happen, and for him as well. It would be so sad if he can’t be there for the birth of his first child.
‘‘Things were easing off but because of this second wave, things are even stricter than before.’’
And while Melbourne is not an ideal environment to give birth according to Mrs Murphy, it is what needs to be done to ensure the pregnancy and birth can be managed by their specialist obstetrician.
‘‘My obstetrician was our fertility specialist. We had a lot of trouble trying to get pregnant and so I was seeing him when I lived in Melbourne.
‘‘When I fell pregnant, I stayed with him.
‘‘I am now considered high risk because I have a few issues with this pregnancy, so it needs to be managed by someone outside of Deniliquin anyway.
‘‘I need specialist scans I can only get in Melbourne, and a few other things he is managing. It has just worked out this way.’’
Dealing with the ever changing border rules has been a headache for the couple, who said no-one has been able to give them a straight answer.
‘‘You have to go through the rules with a fine tooth comb because you can’t get onto Service New South Wales when you call them, and the website is very vague,’’ Mrs Murphy said.
‘‘Fortunately, I have been allowed to come back to work because I am an essential worker.
‘‘It is very clear that when I come back I have to isolate, but it was only upon reading it further that I could see that I could go to work because I am considered an essential worker. That is my understanding of it.
‘‘However, when I crossed the border after my appointment last Friday, three different police officers told me three different things.
‘‘The first one said ‘yep that’s correct’, the second one said ‘no that’s not true’ and the other one basically said ‘see how you go’.
‘‘And that is the most frustrating thing, it is so confusing and nobody knows. If the police don’t know, how are we supposed to know?’’
To eliminate the concerns, the couple has decided to temporarily relocate to Melbourne from their next appointment, early next month.
‘‘Appointments will become a weekly occurrence right up to the birth, so there is no point in coming back to isolate and then have to go back,’’ Mrs Murphy said.
‘‘Dave’s parents have an apartment we are lucky to be able to stay in, and again we are very blessed because if we didn’t have that we would have to come back.
‘‘Because of my complications, my due date is being brought forward. Technically I am due in six weeks, but I will probably have the baby in four or five depending on how things go.
‘‘And from next week Dave and I will have to be tested for Coronavirus every five days leading up to the birth.
‘‘We can’t have any visitors, so I can’t have my family and then when we come back (to Deni) we will have to isolate for two weeks.
‘‘When you need the most support in your life, you can’t have it which is really sad.’’
Mrs Murphy said one of the biggest concerns she has is not being able to share the experience with her Victorian-based family until border restrictions are eased.
‘‘Ordinarily, when you have your first baby, your family, your mum, your sisters rally around, but they literally won’t be able to get here, and that is one of the biggest things for me,’’ she said.
‘‘It means our baby might not meet my family for months and months, which is pretty hard. Obviously the baby won’t know but it is more for my family.
‘‘Dave and I have wanted a baby for so long and been through hell to get here, so my family feel that too.
"But I have to remember that if you asked me a year ago, two, three or even four years ago, I would have said I would do anything to have a baby. So I have to think about the end goal, because it is what we want.
‘‘We are very lucky to be pregnant and expecting a baby, so you just have to try and look at the positives.
‘‘While we won’t have support and won’t have my family around, I think about how nice it is that Dave and I will have no distractions, no visitors, and we can just focus on this baby.’’The couple moved to Deniliquin from Melbourne just over a year ago, so sports physiotherapist Johanna could take over as the new owner of Deniliquin Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Centre.
Dave still works in Melbourne. He would normally travel between work and home, but has been working from home in Deniliquin since Coronavirus related restrictions were introduced in March.